Papers by Keyword: Photo-Anode

Abstract: Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has attracted immense interest over the past decade due to its low cost and simplicity as a renewable energy source. In DSSC, the photo-anode that governs the collection and transportation of photo-excited electrons plays a critical role in determining the cell performance. In particular, the thickness of the photo-anode is known to be one of the decisive factors in dictating cell efficiency. In this paper, the thickness effect of TiO₂ film as photo-anode on the photovoltaic performance of DSSC is studied. The TiO₂ films were characterized by UV-visible absorbance spectroscopy to correlate the film thickness with the light harvesting efficiency of DSSC. The effects of film thickness on the photocurrent density-voltage characteristics of DSSCs were also investigated. The optimized thickness (4m) of the TiO₂ film was discovered to be the best compromise between the amount of dye loading and the electron transport resistance.

Abstract: Crystal-oriented and crack-free thin TiO2 films with a good interfacial adhesion on indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates for photoelectrodes were fabricated by the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method in a 12 T strong magnetic field. A binder-free suspension for the EPD was prepared by dispersing TiO2 in the mixture of 2-propanol and 2,4-pentanedione. The electrophoretic mobility and the sedimentation rate were measured at various ratios of the mixed solution. The optimized state of the suspension exhibiting the highest surface charge potential and producing deposits with the highest green density was obtained at the 50:50 mixing ratio. The TiO2 films were characterized by XRD and SEM analyses. The photo-current measurement was also conducted to investigate the relation between the photo-anode characteristics of a dye-sensitized solar cell and the plane orientation of the TiO2 films